EDMONTON -- An illegal poultry market may be to blame for the H5N1 death of an Alberta woman.

That's according to a letter to the editor to the Journal of Infection by Chinese researchers in Beijing.

The researchers drew parallels between the Jan. 8, 2014, case and a Jan. 6, 2009, case where a 19-year-old woman died after buying a duck from a wet market in Hebei Province.

No one has reported whether the woman who died in 2014 in fact came in contact with live poultry, wet markets or fresh poultry during her stay in Beijing.

While it is illegal in Beijing to sell and slaughter live poultry in the markets, illegal dealings persist.

"Although the Beijing government makes efforts to ban the illegal deal of live poultry, this selling mode consistently exist as many Chinese people prefer live poultry to fresh poultry in light of their culture of consumption," the letter states.

The contributors go on to say the virus could have been contracted while walking past an inconspicuous stall or dealer at a flea market.

The study found because of the way the disease manifested itself, more information is needed.

The Red Deer nurse in her late 20s came back from a trip in Beijing on Dec. 27 with headaches, fever and general weakness. She died on Jan. 3 after being hospitalized.